Fremont copper thief makes off with more than $25,000 worth of wire

FREMONT -- Investigators are searching for a man who stole a forklift, drove it through a fence and made off with more than $25,000 worth of copper wire Sunday, police said.

When police arrived at the PG&E storage yard on Boyce Road shortly after 7 a.m. they found that the forklift ignition appeared to have been tampered with and it was still running, said Fremont police spokeswoman Officer Geneva Bosques.

The fence was knocked over in one corner of the yard, police said.

Police said the suspect stole the forklift from a construction site and drove it to the PG&E storage yard about 100 yards away. Police said the man used the forklift to heave a 5,600-pound spool of copper wire and put it in the flatbed of a truck. He then drove away.

Police are looking for a white man in his mid-30s with black hair who drives a 1995 or 1996 commercial truck, possibly a Ford F350 or F450 with an open, black flat bed. Anyone with information should call Fremont Police at 510-790-6800 or 911.